NFL is Dropping the Ball

Ray Rice gets suspended for 2 games for hitting his fiancee, while Josh Gordon gets suspended an entire year for testing positive for marijuana. The committee who determines suspension lengths needs to reevaluate their rubric for their decisions. There are two different situations; obviously one significantly worse than the other, but the penalties don’t justify their acts.

Picture from Ray Rice's incident from ABCNews

These are just two examples of the most recent and talked about suspensions. The majority of players get caught for performance enhancing drugs and substance abuse. It doesn’t make sense to me that Ray Rice only got a 2 week suspension for domestic abuse. This guy gets paid tens of millions of dollars, and children look up to him. I understand the NFL is a business and a guy like him increases profits but the damage done to the team and the NFL’s image is undeniable. A video has come out by TMZ that shows Ray Rice physically beating his fiancee in an elevator, and since then he has been banned indefinitely. But, the thought that without that video he would be playing in 2 weeks astonishes me.

In recent news, it has been reported that the NFL has had the video of Ray Rice striking his now-wife for about five months now. They have not released any information on what they did with the video or why they never admitted to having it. It makes Roger Goodell look like a poor commissioner of the NFL, having information like this should be reported immediately. One of the NFL employee’s reported seeing Goodell watching the video; and 5 months later we had to find out through TMZ.

There is currently about 45 players league wide including Josh Gordon that are suspended due to substance abuse. The NFL considers substances as: HGH, any amphetamine, or THC. Football is debatably the most popular sport in America, and of course they want to set a good example. But, I feel like what a player does on their free time is up to them as long represent their team/league well and they do their job. The NFL has a stricter drug policy during testing than the standard set by the World Anti Doping Agency for Olympic competition.. If they want to continue as one of America’s top sports the NFL needs to keep the fans happy, and suspending every player for little things isn’t the way to do it.

Being suspended for drug use, domestic abuse, or steroids is completely understandable. But, give them what they deserve; these players are some of the richest people in America. We should hold them to a higher standard but also give them some of the freedom that we all attain. 2 game suspension for domestic violence is completely ludicrous, that should automatically be suspension for at least a year. If the NFL doesn’t recognize it as a serious matter; neither will the rest of the United States.